Which bike tyre? So confused!

oguru

Hi

I've done a few days research looking at various different types of tyres and the more I read it seems the further away I get from knowing what I want!

I just bought a second hand Boardman Hybrid Pro with Continental Ultra Sport 700x28 tyres but I want something thicker with more comfort and I want to use it in parks/forest as well as commuting (will be mostly road use). I will probably be using it a max of 30-50 miles per week, but maybe as few as 10... i'm not really sure yet.

My primary concern is puncture resistance, as this stopped me using my previous one (albeit an awful mountain bike, something I got from Aldi about 15 years ago for £100 or less), with comfort being the next most important closely followed by speed.

I have read that the larger the width the more comfortable it will be. I was looking at the Marathon Plus and Marathon Plus Tour because they seem to be pretty puncture proof and have decent grip on varying surfaces but everyone says they are very uncomfortable. If i'm cycling to work or going for a leisurely cycle, I don't want it to be unpleasant. My current tyre is a bit hard but It's not too bad, so if I got 35c hybrid+ how would that compare in all areas? I would prefer something more comfortable but if it's about the same I could live with that. If it is going to be too uncomfortable/slow though, can you offer any suggestions?

I'm not going to be doing crazy mileage on it as you can see but I don't want to have to deal with the nuisance of punctures, so even if i got a tyre that wasn't quite as puncture resistant but I wouldn't get a puncture in like 1000 miles on various terrains, that would be fine if it was comfortable enough and not toooo slow.

Thanks!

Peter

davmaggs

If you are going for puncture resistance then Marathon plus are the ones to get. They do, I think tend to be wider than a tyre supposedly of the same width.

The faster commuters tend to find them a bit slower as they are heavier, so people then start to trade off that puncture resistance for something a bit quicker that has some resistance. In winter I found the Marathon grip isn't quite that of others like the four seasons. Those two factors then starts all the various brands being mentioned.

I'm not sure about the comfort point. I'd say width of tyre and pressure plays more influence that one brand or model over another. You could run a 32 width for a year.

meanredspider

The key to comfort is pressure. The wider the tyre, the lower the pressure you can run without risking pinch flats

I'd have thought that a Marathon Plus in 35c run at a suitable pressure for your weight would do the job just fine (though it might be on the heavy side)

roger_merriman

Unless your attempting to go down full on MTB trails normal marthon in plus or not form will be fine.

The marathons have a very hard rubber compound and strong stiff sidewalls so if run at roadie pressures 90-120 psi they are uncomfortable and have interesting behaviour on wet roads! Knock it down to 60-80 and they are much better grip is no worse than road slicks still rather wooden feeling but much better.

I have used them in pervious bikes in 25/38 forms and they do remarkably well down bridleways etc. this said so do roadie slicks as long as your not too adventurous!

Realistic you have 3 types of tires you can fit.

Roadie slicks light and fast on road.

CX tyres light and fast off road

Touring tyres tough durable.

Tyres are a area you pick what you want since do all tyres don't exist

meanredspider

in pervious bikes

Triathlon?

oguru

Many thanks for the replies! I think I will get a 35c Marathon Plus then and mess around with the pressure until i find something comfortable enough, thanks for clearing that up for me